StayCay 2011

We had a magical week of doing all the wonderful things our great town has to offer but we never seem to find or take the time to pencil into our otherwise rushing and hectic lives.   Friday afternoon driving down MoPac from the office I felt a freedom I haven't felt in a long time.  I was on vacation and there was no packing, no schedule or plane to catch, no requirements or pressure, nothing to forget or accidentally leave behind... just me and my family and the 9 1/2 days ahead. We had a great weekend and starting Sunday afternoon, we surrendered any chores or tasks undone, unplugged the computers, put away our phones and really began to unwind.

We bought flowers for the house, we went on walks, we worked out together(!).  There were cocktails a with our 3 hour-long lunches and 2 hour long massages.  We shopped, went to the theater, watched a movie at home and had our morning coffee on South Congress with all the sounds of the bustle of the town around us and the people watching of (mostly visiting) people in our town.  We went to Zilker park and picnicked by ourselves and also with thousands of people.  We floated in the pool and let the Shorty play 'hooky' from the nanny and hang with Mom and Dad in the mornings and all day on Thursday and Friday.  We had a magnificent date night and I took the time to make a book for my kiddo which he is now carrying around with him like some kids carry around their blankie (which makes my heart swell).

More posts to come on our StayCay as it starts to wind down.  But frankly, bloggin is a favorite thing to do that I haven't had time to do lately so this is a fun nap-time thing.  I hope that as we re-enter regular life, we can incorporate more of our Staycation way of life into the everyday.  Great in theory... we'll see how it goes in practice.

The Enemy of Perfection

So this evening as I ate my dinner, talked about work and fed the baby with the (seemingly attention-starved) cat sitting in my lap, it hit me: I haven't blogged in awhile. Was it the business trip that took a week of prep to match my week on the road? The photo sessions and related post-production endless task list? Maybe it was because of the newly-crawling, teething kiddo and adjustment to the time change and all that entails? Could it be the trips to the vet and the kitty-girl overcoming her illness that just about sent her to kitty girl heaven? Maybe it's the house redecorating? It surely wasn't the distraction of UT football. For all the times I get super busy, I still find time to blog. Why haven't I? I have tons of stories, updates and vignettes in my head, just bouncing around and itching to get out... so why?

My cousin recently emailed and asked us to compile photos and stories for my Grandmother's upcoming 90th birthday (yet another undone-to-do) and something she included at the end of the request was compelling. Maybe I should think on it a bit more until it REALLY sinks in... but on to it: "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good enough" In an effort to make things just right, don't put so much effort into it that you don't finish it and move on to the next thing.

You laugh. Think this was directed at me? Case in point?

So yes, I have managed to skip over some blog-worthy happenings which about drives me bonkers. It's one thing with things are just crusin' along, nothing to report, and I'm feeling the creative impulse to scribble. But uggh, to have content yet haven't captured it is like an itch I can't scratch. Did I mention I *actually* worked out? YES! THREE, count 'em THREE trips to Vinyasa Yoga (that's three 90 minute sessions of power yoga in a heated room). I mean, that's SOMETHING.

With all these things scrolling through my cabeza, I kept thinking I'd back-blog them. But alas, I give up. Maybe I'll have a very slow next couple weeks and have the chance to do just that. Ah, note to self: next week is Thanksgiving. Is it possible? (Time to bust out the Charlie Brown!)

And so in summary, I offer the following... Here 'tis:
-work trip damn near did me in... but I made lemonade: flew the boys to meet me in San Fran and we enjoyed spectacular weather. Even the locals were in awe.
-for now, I've managed to stave off the 2 week trip to Brazil. Seriously? Brazil. Don't get me started on the irony. and related eye-rolling frustration.
-The kitty girl is in full recovery. However, she has a new problem... for years she was a bit, shall we say, overly fluffy? (read: morbidly obese and on diet food for years, to no avail). She has dropped from ~20 lbs to a frail 5 1/2 lbs and as we have been working to pack the pounds back on, she has made progress. Along with it, she's become less irritable. whew. few things as mood altering as a cranky kitty. ESPECIALLY an hour after the baby has gone to sleep.
-yoga. see above. Mmmmmm. yay.
-the house make-over has been delightful. makes me wonder why i didn't do this early.
-we had our first over-night away from the bebe. Mr. Price and I got away for about 36 hours for a lovely stay at Barton Creek Resort while the shorty's delighted Nana got the pleasure of snuggling and playing with the little charmer. And a good time was had by all.

that's all I've got for now, team. Diving back into photoshop for the balance of the evening for a photo shoot of a babino with several large souvenirs of recent fun-gone-awry (aka scratches, bruises and bumps) that we'd prefer not preserve. good times.

over & out.

Neil Young

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, Nov 6, 2010 at 5:01 PM
Subject: Neil Young

Waiting for my last photo shoot of the day while listening to the wedding band play Harvest Moon, one of my favorites. Not to mention the typical wedding songs: canon in d, etc...




Sent from my iPhone

Promise You'll Tell?

Yesterday, while in the bathroom at the office I felt like I was in a time warp. Like, hello-and-welcome-to-the-late-nineties time warp. And you would have said so too if the shoes in the stall next to you were black loafers with a 2 inch chunky heel with a square toe and elasticized jersey material. to take it a step further: there was a thin woven leather belt on the ground next to it. I honestly stopped and started flipping through to try to remember if today was a dress-up day and I'd somehow overlooked it. I expressly remember when that was in style, and it would not be fair to say it was 'a few' seasons ago. I fully expected to step out and see full-on mom jeans with a heavy color blocked rugby shirt on top... tucked into said jeans and cinched at the waist.

But instead of waiting around to see, I darted out there feeling shocked and a little guilty for mentally trash-talking someone's unintentional retro outfit. (yes, of course I washed my hands)

Which brings me to this: promise that when the day comes that I am that person dreadfully out of style, even to the point that a new mom who rarely 'dresses up' past yoga pants for the day (yes, work out clothes and I've yet to work out), promise you will tell me. Drop me a copy of last season's Vogue if you can spare it, forcefully clean out my closet, demand I hand over the belt. Whatever it takes. Because a true friend will tell you.

Ticket in Hand

For some reason, I was super excited for our season tickets to arrive today and can hardly believe that kickoff is a mere 17 days away! Alas, the end of summer is drawing near... But not the heat.

I digress...

Excited for the tickets... which we are selling. But that doesn't matter! Because -even if only for a few moments- the arrival of these pieces of cardboard remind me that my favorite season (football) is just around the corner and helps pull me out of my summer slump.

Though it has been years since my last 'real' summer (ironic that it is considered a 'real' summer only prior to entering the 'real' world, when a 'real' summer ceases to exist)... I've had a bit of the end-of-summer blues lately. Or maybe it's the mean reds. Put another way: it feels like it's that last day of summer for the past week or two. In any case, I took a quick swim today at lunch to try to shake it off. But it was the tickets that did the trick.

Easter Sky

Tonight we watched a beautiful sky with pastel colors and gold disc the sun set behind the newly budding trees. It was a great Easter weekend. My baby boy was christened at the Easter vigil service and we were surrounded by family all weekend long. to finish the weekend our little family sat upstairs watching the sunset and listening to Willie Nelson sing 'Georgia on my mind' and 'blue skies' -- the song we sing to Jackson each day -- and it was magical. if only we could replay the special moments every night -- Mr Price's dad flew in from North Carolina, mom and step dad, of course all my family from around the neighborhood, and Jackson's godparents: the triplets parents Eric & Jackie, as well as Eric's parents (Mr. Price's dad's brother).

A good time was had by all. Especially the happy mom.

The Holiday Hangover

Mr. Price and I have been hanging out and doing next-to-nothing for the past several days and it has been fantastic! We've run errands, gone to the theater and coffee shops, gone on lunch and dinner dates and have been generally connected at the hip. We did *finally* see the movie The Hangover - and it was hilarious. The pinnacle of each day has come along with the mailman delivering the day's supply of Christmas Cards... for which I have a mini-ritual-of-sorts for opening and hanging on the card curtain.

I've been completely off the communication grid for almost two weeks now! No email, no facebook, no anything-online... very limited phone (i keep leaving it upstairs and not checking it for days at a time). It's been one part weird and one part reprieve. However, i'm back to it this afternoon and enjoying it - glad to be catching up again.

Despite the fact that there has been little to NO partying in the line-up for me... i have been feeling progressively more and more hungover. However, with fewer weeks until delivery than innings in a baseball game - I'll just have to suck it up and deal. I am thrilled to report that in this morning's check-up I got some brilliant meds that should help with the seemingly never ending hangover (from the party I didn't get to enjoy) symptoms that continue to pile up. Even more good news: I'll get a cute little baby for my efforts ;)

One of the things I have done with Mr. Price is that we have set up our computers battleship-style and I've started sorting through the year's pictures(which is no simple undertaking). My hard drive is full, so I need to clear out a few more gigs before I can download the current pics on my camera. But as soon as I do, I'll get some pics on here of the recent holiday happenings. MAYBE I'll even do it before the year comes to a close!? Actually, on second thought, don't drink to that just yet -- unless, of course, it's hot chocolate. In which case... bottoms up, buttercup! I'm on my 4th cup today. Cheers.

Sweet Recognition

we had family dinner last night at our place and I realized that forgot to mention this tidbit.

Upon returning from Asia and not seeing poopsie for over a month (she was in Jackson Hole the week before I left):

A month is a long time when you're a mere 16 months old; but sure enough, that little baby remembered me!!

I walked in the door at my parents and Kim looked over at Madeleine and said "who's that!?!" she looked up, smiled and yelled, "Oh, oh, oh!" before flapping her hands at me.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS........

Flying by le fond de notre pantalon

...That would be 'the seat of our pants'

So, we spontaneously booked a trip to France last week. Wild hair and all, searched some flights, considered some countries and other far away places and then *BAM* we're going to Paris.

The 7 hour flight used to be a tad of a deterrent, and the jet lag of 7 time zones. Last summer we opted for Mexico because it just seemed so far.

But admittedly, that 7 hour flight feels a bit trivial after the 30+ hours (one way) and 12/13 time zone differences I traipsed through last month. 7 hours? Hump! I did that in an afternoon going from Tokyo to Singapore... and then back as a morning jaunt a week later. This will be nothin' Proving again... that perspective is everything.

Really, i think this might be mostly a 'because we can' kinda trip. Don't get me wrong: we both love Paris and are really excited about it. In fact, we were there once before together - though we were 'just friends' back then and he slept on the floor of my flat (seriously). It will be nice to relive those moments, but this time around without that esprit très frais (ou froid!). But I think we are appreciating the fact that we can just pick up and go to another continent with a couple weeks notice with little care or concern in the world. Our neighbor already happily (and eagerly) offered watch after Tyler and the kitty girl. Done.

After getting back into the office last week, my manager asked me "what can I do for you?" and I instantly responded with a quick "oh, not freak out when i'm gone a week next month" to my delight, he nodded and said "ok. you got it. i will not freak out." Humph! Done.

Wow- that's all we had to clear? Really? Cool.

No pending litigation, no judge's calendar. No Partner going berserk. No class schedule. Nothing complicating us picking up and being gone for a week.

So for 7 nights, in Paris we shall be: on our 4th anniversary; to celebrate Mr. Price's MBA graduation; to toast to river banks of Seine and the Champ du Mars; to wander the streets of la Rive Gauche; and to appreciate the simple fact that we could.

Little Treasures

One of the things I was most excited about coming home... was to see the girls and give them their sussies. I was spoiled with too much jewelry as a little girl and it only seems fit to continue the tradition. So, I bought each of my darling nieces a pearl necklace, long enough to later be made into a double strand bracelet. But for now, they look stunning.

Even at 1 1/2 and 4 years old, these little dolls were thrilled about their pretty little things.

Madeleine laughed and smiled and tugged on her necklace as we looked in the mirror. she had tried to pull it on over her head and then patiently waited with her arms sticking straight out to the sides as if to balance herself as I put it on her. In appreciation she gave Aunt Emmie a kiss. (melt)

We joined the TriPrices at Westwood for an Easter afternoon swim, which was lovely. Faith, while wet and curled up in my lap, asked me why I had a necklace (the girls often ask about my necklace or play with it). After a series of very funny "whys" she concluded that I must have gotten the necklace for my birthday and she didn't get a necklace for her bday.

I later used the 'ol "Girls... I have a surprise for you..." trick to distract Ava & Faith from hopping back in the pool (which at this point was quite cold). It worked! =)

So it was about time to leave and we started all walking out together when Ava said "but what about our surprise?" Ah, yes... I assure you I hadn't forgotten. Good to know they were eager.

Claire had wandered off so Faith and Ava got theirs first and were so thrilled - Ava immediately requested Uncle Joe take her picture. Faith because very content and pensive... resting her hand and thumb on her chest, over her new pearls, for the rest of the day. Funny how that reaction is so natural for a girl. Claire on the other hand, was having a rough time with leaving the pool, who was going to be the 'leader' and otherwise. She wanted her necklace on but then promptly wanted it back off so she could see it.

As we said our final goodbyes, I was tackled by A&F with a sweet, digging in kind of hug - complete with their wet little swimsuits and all.

Totally made my day.

In Full Bloom

konnichiha (pronounced as konnichiwa)

No, not me. That would be the magnificent cherry blossoms coating Tokyo right now. It is breath-taking; they are everywhere.

Cherry blossoms are to the Japanese what firecrackers are to Americans, or bluebonnets to Texans. But maybe even more so... Hanami is literally the tradition of looking at the cherry blossoms when they are in bloom which can last just a few days if there are strong winds or rain in the 10 day window each year that they bloom. They are quite delicate and even a mild wind and they will fall from the trees like snow.

People all around town have been lingering and congregating under the trees at lunch and breaks, smiling, laughing, taking pictures.

It's Friday night in Tokyo. Tomorrow morning I'll wake up bright and early, head to the fish market to check it out... then off to Ueno park to join the masses that will likely already be there. From what I understand, it is as if the entire country will be tailgating tomorrow, ear-marking their spots in the parks with blankets and spending the whole day drinking sake and gazing at the trees. And with them I plan to join! Here is a 'How To' for Hanami

I'm a bit in disbelief that My week in Japan is coinciding with this magical weekend here. There are literally 'Cherry Blossom Weather Reports' created each year because the days in which the trees bloom varies and rolls up the country from south to north as the temperature warms. Even the difference between yesterday and today is remarkable.

This page describing Hanami is great. It is all anyone talks about between meetings, walking to lunch, on the trains..

Of course I LOVE to partake in the quintessential 'things' of any destination. "When in Rome..." is the law that governs my travel. Even when it's silly or strange. Eat fish & chips in England? Gross, but check. Mehndi in New Delhi? Check. Surfing in San Sebastian? Check. Discothèque in Prague? Check. Bargain shopping in the markets of Chichicastenango? I'll take it. Topless in Juan-les-Pins? Check. Champagne on the Champ-du-Mars and baguettes and cheese on the Siene? Check & check, and repeat. Even absinthe in Barcelona.

But this... this one might take the cake. After this week, I'm considering it Karma.

Sayounara.
(8pm Friday night, Tokyo time)

Bye Bye Beijing

I'm leaving for Tokyo in bright and early in the morning... just a quick note before turning out the lights...

Beijing is such an interesting city full of dichotomy: - signs of a city here for tens of thousands of years, brand new construction every direction you look. Perfectly preserved history amoung incredible relics that are ignored-- people who will rip you off without a second thought, only to smile and invite you to meet them for lunch because you are their new best friend moments later. A city full of life...

I don't know if saying the past few days (or even the segment that was just the past 36 hours) were 'insane' or surreal or how you'd explain it-- maybe it's just hyperbole, maybe I'm just jet lagged.

But I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt and can say with complete certainty that I shall never forget my stay in Beijing.

Late

i was on time to work yesterday, but my first meeting ran over... i had back to back meetings so was late to each consecutive meeting as the day wore on.. at the end of the day, boss man looked at me and said "you're wearing that to dinner?" which i immediately dismissed for him getting his days wrong (i have had several partner dinners lately) and told him i didn't have a dinner tonight. in short: there was an awards event i was apparently invited to and it started a few minutes later. it was 10 minutes north of the office (the office is 20 minutes north of my house), and it was a semi formal event. yet, i was in khakis a sweater and hair in a pony tail (it's cold and rainy in Austin this week). Sweet Mr. Price dropped what he was doing, put on a suit, grabbed a change of clothes from my closet and headed north in the middle of Austin traffic. so again: late for the awards dinner.

nothing about yesterday was on time, it seems.

Freedom

Apathy.
ap·a·thy (noun)
1.lack of enthusiasm or energy
2.emotional emptiness

This is my goal at work. And has been in effect for over a week now and seems to be working out quite nicely, really. And when I start to feel a little guilty for not caring... i quickly remind myself to not care. then Whoosh~ I feel nothing.

And it's nice. Hell, I'd even call it pleasant.

I think of it as "a healthy amount of apathy in all the right places."
So when I say "A 'healthy' amount..." I mean that occasional use of the word that equates to "plentiful." I have a mental image of myself smearing something fun and fluffy --like cool whip or cotton-y padding-- all around me so that the stress and 'chicken little' mentality in the office bounces off without ever getting to me. So 'all the right places' really refers to any space surrounding me while I am at work.

Part of me is concerned because I have always so passionate and diligent when it comes to my work. What if this ruins me? I believe that it won't. Given that I am (and have been) at the end of my rapidly-fraying rope, it comes just in time. Jackie says it's good to have a little apathy and to 'disengage' a bit given my recent burn out. Erin & Jim have applauded the effort. So along with a couple other votes of confidence in my recent 'laissez faire' approach, I continue on through the beat-down that has been work. Apathetic. Like water off a duck's back. Working hard, but not taking it to heart. If I don't get to it, the sky is *not* actually going to fall. Oh, AND: if I have need to leave early from a mind-numbingly long meeting that is barely more than a monument to bureaucracy... so be it. Especially if it is so that I can call and make a massage appointment on the walk out to my car.

Coming to Fruition (well, kinda)

It is a "Phase 1" kind of fruition.

You know, like when your salad arrives (ref: headline for my blog)? Sure, something delicious is finally in front of you and you can enjoy it... but you also have the excitement and anticipation of knowing that something bigger and better (and even more delicious) is on it's way. All you have to do is sit back and enjoy the moment.

This week I finally pushed out my welcome-to-the-world, work-in-progress business in development. For many years now -at least since my days on Cole Ave- I have seriously tinkered (is that an oxymoron?) with the idea of a photography based business. At other times, a stationery business. Whether it was behind the camera or artistic layout, my creative side itchin' to get goin' and I finally have found an intersection of all those things. To top it all off: I can still incorporate my uber-type-A planning and consultant-process mapping. Who knew!?

So I proudly announce the rock I will now start pushing up hill:

Fireflies & Magnolia
Photography and Memories you can see again
Get reacquainted with your memories!

Sure, it is in blog form - not exactly the polished 'professional' website. But you gotta start somewhere and this will be the home for all my content until that fancy website comes along. And I now have a place to direct people if they are interested - even if only marginally interested... or vaguely curious... or whatever.

Given that you are actually reading this, you most definitely classify as a blog-surfer and a friend (which includes friend-of-a-friend). Sure, I prefer to keep this blog a bit 'close to the vest' (you'll notice that I don't link back to this blog from 'Fireflies') and I don't share this blog with just anyone. However, I would *love* it if you would like to link your blog to Fireflies & Magnolia at http://firefliesandmagnolia.blogspot.com/ or tell friends about it.

As is quite obvious: my little developing biz is a not fully baked so if you have any insight, feedback or commentary or anyone who might like to be a customer-- I'm all ears!

Onward!
~emprice

p.s. Dig my 'teaser' campaign over the past couple days?? i didn't even have to pay MS/Seinfeld rates for it. =)